Crossroads - Chapter 33

by a campbell

Clark Kent/Lex Luthor, PG-13

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Lana and Chloe crept on sneakered feet through the uncanny silence of the lower-level hallway of Lionel’s new building. Despite the elegance of the exterior, the corridors inside were bleak and unadorned, narrow passageways punctuated at regular intervals with steel doors. No luxury apartments, no offices or storage lockers--nothing but blankness. Just when Chloe began to despair that they would ever reach the place where Clark was being held, Lana stopped short in front of a wall bearing a metal plate.

"Is that where--" Chloe’s hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened as Lana whispered:

"Shhh!"

Her slim index finger pressed a button on the wall. The plate slid up, revealing a screen beneath. She leaned back against the wall. "He’s in there."

Chloe stepped up to the screen and paused. She cast a troubled glance at Lana, whose eyes had dropped closed, and then turned to peer through the screen.

A bare room, and Clark sat slumped against the wall, arms wrapped around his white-clad body. Half-closed eyes pale and red-rimmed, a sad and solitary image of desolation.

Chloe’s heart clenched in her chest. "Clark!" she hissed in a whisper through the grid, then turned to Lana with an accusing glare. "He can’t hear me. Why?"

Lana still didn’t look at her. "His powers are fading. And so is his strength."

Chloe frowned, then turned back to the grate and raised her voice--not too loud, as no one knew who might be lurking nearby, or monitoring. "Clark!"

Still no response.

She forced herself to remain calm and recall her earlier advice. Nothing would be gained by irritation and anger, and a great deal could be lost. "Clark will need all the strength he can muster for what lies ahead for him. We can’t waste any more time. We have to move as fast as we can without giving ourselves away."

Lana, her gaze dark, responded with a grim nod.

"Take my cell. Call Lex on your way up and tell him the plan’s a go. Tell him I’ll join him in a few minutes and we’ll tackle that security system. We’re going to get Clark out of here as fast as we can. His life depends on it."

**

Lana stepped into the empty elevator and pressed the button, thinning her lips as the car began its smooth, upward glide.

When Lionel when he learned of Clark’s escape, his wrath would be terrifying. His sophisticated, agonizing methods of revenge were legend, and could well be turned on her.

Lex and Chloe were perfectly willing to offer her as the sacrificial lamb to Lionel Luthor’s rage. They cared nothing for her. Only for Clark.

She beat down the thought. She was a better person than that. She’d looked deep into her soul over the past couple of months and could no longer live with what she saw there. Even if she wound up alone in the end, she had to redeem herself.

Clark was an amazing being, and she had forgotten somewhere along the way that he had been her friend. He was up against the biggest challenge of his young life, and she was to blame for putting him in even more danger. He was alone and scared.

Clark had saved her countless times. She owed him her help. She owed it to him, and to herself, to help make this right.

Only by saving Clark could live with herself again.

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